Lithuanian Identity: Between the Historical Experience of Central and Eastern Europe and the Heritage of the Great Duchy of Lithuania

This article deals with the influence of the heritage of the Great Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) on the contemporary development of Lithuanian identity, emphasizing the reasons of its actualization. The actualizing of the GDL is closely connected with the processes of globalization, euro-integration and geopolitical alternations. The author affirms that the historical heritage of the GDL helps Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine to integrate into the space of Eastern Europe and the supposed national tolerance in the GDL is peculiar manifestation of the democratic tradition in this area.